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Crewy Lou
Louise "Crewy Lou" Brown was a young woman with blonde hair that she wore in a long braid in the back, but with a short crew-cut style on top (hence her nickname) The Baby Plots Shortly after the birth of Bonnie Tracy, Crewy Lou approached Dick Tracy and Tess, offering to photograph the baby. Tess (herself a skilled photographer) was impressed by Lou's samples and agreed to let her photograph Bonnie despite Dick's objections. Crewy Lou then used the photographs of Bonnie (along with pictures of the babies of other prominent citizens) to convince the wealthy new father Fortson B. Knox to allow her to photograph his child. This was part of a scheme by Crewy Lou and her safe-cracker associate Sphinx to gain access to Knox's home. Crewy Lou and Sphinx were able to steal jewels out of Knox's safe, not realizing that Knox himself was part of a criminal syndicate run by "The King". While they were doing that, Knox was killed by his wife Carol, who was unaware that their home was being robbed. Crewy Lou and Sphinx quickly took advantage of the coincidence to knock out Carol Knox, knowing that the police would subsequently be occupied with processing her arrest and thus giving themselves sufficient time to escape. Later, the King came to collect the jewels from Brown and Sphinx. Sphinx was killed, but Crewy Lou assaulted The King and fled. The Black Sheep Crewy Lou was then abducted by her brother Brainerd, who considered her an embarrassment to their family. He took Crewy Lou to the woods, where he planned to kill her. Lou killed Brainerd and escaped, hi-jacking a passing automobile. The car was being driven by Tess Tracy, who Lou ejected from the vehicle, not realizing that Bonnie was in the back seat. Lou fled for some time before discovering Bonnie. Lou panicked and became irritated by the baby's cries, striking her to make her be quiet. Lou eventually abandoned the car, leaving Bonnie in it to starve or freeze to death. She fled deeper into the woods, and soon became aware that she was being tracked by Dick Tracy in a helicopter. Desperate, Lou climbed into a tall forestry tower, seeking food. Finding a rifle in the tower, she shot at the helicopter, which then lobbed tear gas into the tower. Lou tried to escape but fell from the high tower. Tracy was able to reach her before she died, and Lou told Tracy that Bonnie had been alive when she abandoned the car. Tracy was able to recover his baby. Appearances in Other Media 1990 Movie Continuity Crewy Lou does not appear in the 1990 film. However, she was a character in the spin-off stage show Dick Tracy Starring in Diamond Double Cross which ran from May 21, 1990 to February 21st, 1991 at Disney-MGM Studios and as part of Disneyland's live entertainment attraction "Videopolis". The stage show had the same aesthetic as the film, but is not considered to be continuous with it. Crewy Lou spent much of the show disguised as a cigarette girl working at the Club Ritz and was not (properly) introduced until near the end of the show. Dick Tracy removed her wig and searched her cigarette tray for the stolen Balonian diamond. Tracy described Lou as a master of disguise and Flattop's accomplice, using the tray as a signal for him to drop the diamond. She was then apprehended along with Flattop, Big Boy, Mumbles and Breathless Mahoney. Notes *Crewy Lou's inclusion in Diamond Double Cross is surprising as all of the other major characters in the stage show had been prominently featured in the movie. *Both Max Allan Collins and Jim Doherty have stated that they regard the "Crewy Lou" story arc as the all-time best Tracy sequence. *Crewy Lou was the villain featured on the cover of IDW's The Complete Dick Tracy Volume 14. Category:Deceased Category:Villains Category:Photographers Category:Featured on Cover